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New York Warns of Fake ‘Inflation Refund’ Messages Targeting Taxpayers

Officials say the Tax Department does not text for this refund, urging residents to report suspicious messages via official channels.

Overview

  • Active phishing campaigns are impersonating New York’s tax agency via text, email, and mail to steal personal and payment information.
  • Scam messages use urgent deadlines and bogus legal citations, directing victims to lookalike websites that request Social Security numbers and banking details.
  • State guidance confirms eligible residents receive one-time inflation refund checks automatically by mail with no application or information submission required.
  • Security analysts have observed sending numbers originating outside the U.S. and links that do not use the official tax.ny.gov domain.
  • New Yorkers are advised to avoid clicking unsolicited links, ignore calls seeking tax information, verify details on tax.ny.gov, and report attempts to the NYS Tax Department or the IRS.